For those who don’t know, the past couple of weeks, the show’s song lists have been “leaked” on AmericanIdol’sInstagram account before each performance night. When I checked this week, I saw that the contestants literally picked some of my favorite songs OF ALL TIME to sing on the show’s “love” themed night, including stuff from Bon Jovi, a Beatle, a former Idol winner, TWO Lady Gaga songs and the King himself, Elvis Presley. Before the night even begun, I had some very high expectations.

Of course, it was all about song choice. I’m not going to complain (like I usually do) about the lack of real themes this season, because I just loved the song choices so much. J. Lo looked pretty in pink as Ryan sported a little scruff, or his “8:30 shadow,” as he liked to call it. Even though the show began before 8:30 on the east coast and way before 8:30 in Hollywood. Has the scruff taken away your sense of time, Ryan? Could that explain why sometimes, you have the judges wait to give comments after a commercial break? Probably not.

Caleb Johnson, “You Give Love A Bad Name” by Bon Jovi: I mean, anyone could have predicted that Caleb would have picked this song. Once again, the performance didn’t show anything new or different from the show’s frontrunner. Keith and J. Lo loved it – but Harry finally gave Caleb the food for thought he needs by telling him to be careful about doing the same musical ad libs in every performance. If he keeps doing that, once he goes on tour, every song will sound the same. Duh! Caleb proves once again that he’s the contestant who’s most comfortable out on stage or even in the audience rocking out. He doesn’t miss a chance to make an epic pit stop at the judges’ table, belting in Keith’s face about what a bad lover he is. Somewhere, Nicole Kidman is either concerned or turned on. A great start to the show, but I didn’t love it.

Jessica Meuse, “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson: There’s always a little more pressure when singing a song by a famous Idol alum, especially a winner – and especially Ms. Kelly Clarkson. Kelly performed like a winner. Jessica does not. Jessica doesn’t even perform like she should be in the top 4 right now. What a boring, bland cover for a song with great potential. When J. Lo starts her comments by saying “that’s not an easy song to sing,” you know she didn’t like it. There were more than just off moments; nothing was “on” about it. Harry was glad Jessica would have two more songs to perform, and told her that she has to get out of her head. If Jessica doesn’t have the confidence at this point, she’s never going to have the guts to win this thing. Jessica will be gone soon enough.

Keith realized that it must be awkward to perform for the judges as they stare blankly back at you – so he thought if he moved around more, so would Jessica. Nice try, but that’s not really how that’s supposed to work. J. Lo then told a story about performing in London, which made Harry want to touch her ear while she was sharing. Why? “Cause you’re Jennifer Lopez!” I swear, J. Lo may want to get a restraining order against Harry before next season. You know, assuming they’re all back. Ryan announced the audition dates and cities for season 14, which includes all three of the judges’ hometowns: New York, New Orleans and Nashville. Seems like a weird way to pressure them into negotiating their contracts.